ABSTRACT
Exhaustive government investigations preceded policy changes, and its politicians were steeped in a culture devoted to the science and technology that fuelled its export economy. Aggravating their technical shortcomings, they were also utilitarian to the point of moral obtuseness. Sweden prides itself on technocratic expertise. The relevant data and know-how inform policy-making. Experts, not politicians, make the decisions. In public health especially, political interference is restricted on the assumption that expertise reigns. Herd immunity was therefore crucial for the voluntarist Swedish approach. Sweden has long been a darling of the moderate left, avatar of the supposed Third Way between communism and capitalism. It has enjoyed a comfortable position on the global sidelines, whence it has scourged larger and more powerful nations for their shortcomings. Voluntary compliance and herd immunity were at odds. The Swedes could have voluntary compliance, or they could have herd immunity, but not both. Aiming for herd immunity meant assuming that voluntary compliance would not hold.
